Steve Williams may regret the racist comment he recently aimed at his ex-boss, Tiger Woods, but chances are he laments even more not quitting as Woods’ looper before the golfer’s sex scandal hit the tabloids. In fact, during an interview with Yahoo! Sports’ Graham Bensinger before he issued his “black ar*****e” remark in China, Williams said he and Tiger “didn’t click” as far back as April and he wished he’d left Woods’ employ after his Australian Masters win two years ago.

“It was a very memorable win,” a smiling Williams told Bensinger in a snippet of the blab session that Devil Ball Golf (golf clap to Jay Busbee for the heads up) put up on Monday. “I really enjoyed that tournament and that was the last event he played before all the events transpired. Perhaps I should have, you know, left him then.”

Williams said he had no idea that all hell was about to break loose but he had a “gut feeling” that that event would have been a good time for the relationship to end. “At some time, one part of me said that that would be a good way to finish,” he said.

The New Zealander now on Adam Scott’s bag offered his opinions on several matters relating to Woods. He believes the former No. 1 will not break Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 major titles, largely because his 2008 knee injury knocked him out of the game and “getting back to the groove has proven to be fairly difficult,” he said.

He also said he respected “what an incredible player” Woods has been, what he’s meant to golf, and how he’s helped grow the game — especially among inner-city kids.

“There’s been a few players over the years that have transcended the sport and really helped the sport grow, him being one of those players,” Williams said. “So I hold a huge amount of respect for him because he’s been responsible for bringing a lot of young kids into the game and making the game grow at numerous levels.”

As for how and when Woods sacked Williams, Stevie said it was just one of those things that all caddies should expect at some point.

“You always know that at some particular time you get an inkling that things could be coming to an end,” Williams said. “It’s something that we all go through in this line of work.

After 12 years, 250 tourneys, 72 worldwide wins, and 13 major championships as Woods’ bagman, Williams believed the relationship between the two began to go south during this year’s Masters tournament — three months before receiving the official heave-ho from Woods in July.

“We didn’t click when we both got back together back in April at Augusta,” Williams said. “We certainly didn’t click like we used to.”